March 30, 2011

Abigail grows bigger and more grown up each and every day.The following are just a few things that I want to remember when I look back on this time of being three months old.

1.When she needs to just hold onto something she often will hold onto her own hands.Clutching them under her chin, just love this.

2. The other morning as I was getting her dressed she reached out and just patted my arm.Something about it has just stuck with me.

3.On that note, her skin is just so soft and smooth, like silk.Whenever she reaches out to touch me I am always amazed at how soft she is.

4.She loves her hands these days, so much so that she likes to try and put them in her mouth while breastfeeding.Not too easy to keep the suction to nurse and suck on two fingers at the same time.

5.She does not like to stay still.I know we have commented on this several times but it is so true.During the day we walk, bounce, dance and put her places where she can kick her legs.This girl loves to move.

6.Her eyes.I want to remember how her big blue eyes just take the world in.She loves to stare and stare at things with her eyes as big as they can get.

7.When I nurse her I will often hum or sing to calm her down if she is agitated.This often causes her to stop and smile.Yesterday she pulled back and laughed at me.Not sure what it is about my singing that is that funny but I enjoyed it and took no offense.

8.While reading books she likes to “read” along as well.And will often babble along with me whenever I open a book.As soon as the book is closed and put down she gets quite again.Hope she loves books this much when she is older.

9.She has also gotten to the stage where she gets so excited about putting things in her mouth.But she doesn’t yet bring things up to her mouth but will instead bring her mouth to whatever she is interested in.It cracks me up all the time.

March 29, 2011

The other day the air didn't have much of a chill to it. Is it silly to say it was a warm air even if the temperatures were still freezing? Anyway, it was warm enough that Abigail didn't need her snowsuit for church, instead she could wear her fancy dress coat.

March 25, 2011

When talking about raising kids my mother often comments that for years it seemed like the main thing she did was fold diapers. Because for her to use cloth diapers she had to fold all of the flat diapers into the size needed for each age as we grew.

And even though we are blessed to have advanced in the cloth diaper department in the past few years I am sure when I look back I will comment that I feel like most of what I did through Abigail's infant years were stuff, stuff and stuff more diapers.

But we are enjoying using cloth diapers and currently have mostly bum genius brand (that are pocket diapers that have to be stuffed after each washing) and a few Kushies in our diaper drawer.

So if you ask who is happy to be wearing cloth diapers around our house you will get one very excited little person. Yeah for the cloth, now lets go wash another load.

March 24, 2011

There is a program in some cities in America called Imagination Library. It is funded by Dolly Parton, of all people this took my by surprise but I am thankful, and it provides a book a month to be mailed to a child from birth (aka registration) to age 5 years old. And luckily Fairbanks is one of those cities.

And Abigail received her first book this week in the mail. What a fun program and experience for us all to enjoy.

March 23, 2011

Since Abigail was born there have been a lot of changes around our home. One of which was to go from a two income family to a one income family. A change that has lead us to move to more of a cash system for a lot of our expenses.

So in order to help us keep track of the cash in different categories I decided to sew us up a special kind of wallet.

One that has separate compartments for where the funds should go.

And I made sure each section was labeled to avoid confusion.

﻿And it all closes up nicely so nothing falls out. And do you notice the button? I sewed my first ever button hole on my own. This might not be a big deal to some but is a huge accomplishment for me. I have taken on the sewing machine and I have come out victorious with a button hole that works, as well as a new "wallet" for our family budget.

March 22, 2011

In the week that we have been home, Abigail has spent many hours being entertained. In an effort to continue that pursuit, many new things have been tried. Abigail has always liked to move. Ever since she was born, she has been most comfortable in motion. Whether that is on the exercise ball or walking... or her newest favorite; "the couch cushion".

March 21, 2011

﻿But I am not discouraged. Instead I pulled out my seed starting pots and got set up in the sunny portion of the living room. The last week of May/first week of June will be here before we know it and I need to get our plants going so they are ready to go into the ground then. So summer veges are soon to be coming up even if the snow is here to stay a bit longer.

March 16, 2011

Abigail has been resisting sleeping these days. Since being home we have walked each day with Abigail in the ergo just to enjoy the fresh winter air. But yesterday instead of walking after Abigail's nap I did it in hopes of putting her to sleep since nursing, bouncing, rocking and such just weren't doing it. After a half mile the walking magic did it's job and little A fell asleep. Once home again I pit Abigail to bed snowsuit and all and she slept for a hour and a half.

Today we had the same story with nap time but this time Abigail fell asleep after only a quarter of a mile. When I got home I was dreaming of the naps we would both take after a rough night last but since the house was warm I thought it best to take Abigail out of her snowsuit first. That was a big mistake since it woke her up and no naps were had.

So today taught me that it is better to just leave the suit on and had me dreaming of warmer days when we can go for our nap walk with no snowsuit necessary.

The last full day in Texas was super warm, sunny and wonderful to soak in. The main thing on the agenda all day, return the rental car Josh and I had rented to get to the beach house. A tough agenda I know.

So after mother picked us up from the rental car company we all headed out to enjoy the beautiful day just a bit. It started with large drinks from sonic, gotta love 1/2 off prices from 2-4, and then a trip to the Georgetown park along the San Gabriel river. There Abigail rode in her stroller until she just couldn't wait any longer to get out and explore on her own.

And it was there, in the warmth of the day, that Abigail got to experience for the first time the wonderful feel of green grass under your bare feet. What a wonderful experience for us all.

March 15, 2011

While I was in Texas Josh worked on a lot of projects for the house. You might remember this post as well as this one that talked about his woodworking.

His main project was to completely build the second handrail that was needed for our third floor landing.

The piece from last year, you can see it in the background, was put together in the basement and brought upstairs to be installed but since this second piece was twice as big it would be way too heavy for that. So Josh had to cut all of the pieces to size in the basement workshop and then carry them all upstairs where he assembled it there.

And once it was all assembled he was able to install it right away.

And it looks so amazing. (the little holes on top have since been filled with wood plugs and you can't even see them)

And with both pieces in place it makes this area look so good, finished and safe. Way to go Josh!

March 14, 2011

We are all back in Alaska now having left Texas behind last week for the long trip home. But I still have a few memories and photos that I want to share over the next bit as I also share a few things that are going on here in Fairbanks as well.

One fun memories was Abigail's experience in Grandma's sink. At home Abigail has the deluxe and massive sink where she likes to lounge and splash. Well much to her surprise, Grandma's sink isn't that way. Nope, Grandma's sink is 1/2 the size and super deep. The first time we gave her a bath Abigail just stood up with the water around her knees looking around. It was a new experience for her to sit to bath and although it wasn't always the most luxurious it was fun with Grandma because as she found out, most everything with Grandma is fun.

March 12, 2011

Just some random things on my mind this morning:
1. Josh, Abigail and I flew home to Alaska yesterday. The days are sunny and as I get unpacked and organized my house feels more and more like home.

2. Since we are home that means I am back to no Internet so I can't post pictures each day. I will be in town tomorrow and will put more up then. I have more fun things to share.

3. My mother and sister are on a plane together this morning flying to Haiti for a week long medical trip. I am praying so had for their safety and the impact they will have. I am so thankful they are together.

4. I seem to, for now, have gotten Abigail into a bed time routine and with the time change from Texas this means I had her in bed for the night at 5:30 last night. This will be great for day lights savings tonight but it does mean A is up for the day at 5am. Oh well, means we get going on things right away.

5. And a note about the last post, we aren't going to get a bumbo. But it sure was fun to try out.

March 9, 2011

When I was getting ready to come visit my parents my mother realized that were she had a pack n' play for Abigail to sleep in she didn't really have any other baby "gear".

But in thinking just how she could find a bouncy seat or such she thought of her well stocked church nursery that is only in need of such gear on Sunday mornings. And she asked the nursery workers if she could borrow one or two things during the week days and bring the gear back on Sunday mornings for the other kids to use. They were fine with that plan and it worked out great for Abigail as well.

Something we don't have at home is a bumbo but the church had several and so we took this time in Texas to see what Abigail thought of one.

She liked it just fine but mother and I just loved it. How fun it was to see her sitting all up like a little person. But now as our trip to Texas comes to a close the bumbo and bouncy seat have been returned to the church but these fun pictures will remind us of sunny mornings on the porch all sitting together getting ready for the day to arrive.

March 8, 2011

And she came out in a super cute outfit. Since it was a cooler Texan morning I added the baby legs and even though they were still pretty big on her they looked super fun.

Abigail, not sure what all the fuss was about, was a good sport to all our smiles, laughs and pictures. What a good subject she is and thanks a ton to our friend Laura for the super cute jumper, Abigail is growing into it a little more each day.

March 7, 2011

The other day we took a break from the relaxing days at the beach, tough I know, to venture into Corpus Cristi.

When we got there we were enjoying a walk along the shoreline and caught a glimpse of an aircraft carrier. Interested we went to check it out and found ourselves at the USS Lexington which is now open for tours.

The self guided tours had us wandering all over the ship, up and down. We saw the mess halls, med areas, post offices, all the cabins where different ranks slept, mechanics shops, engine rooms and such.

Abigail was amazing for the entire tour. When she was awake we wandered around inside but once she dozed off we went up onto the flight deck.

It was fun to read all the quotes and poems written all over the ship.

And to see all of the navy equipment.

What fun we had but I was ok at the end when I didn't have to go up and down the steep staircases in a dress with the baby strapped on and more, what was I thinking, ha ha.

March 5, 2011

Today is March 5th and Abigail's 3 month birthday. I thought it would be fun to look over a few pictures from the past year.

Here we are painting window trim last year on March 6th not even knowing that Abigail was going to be part of our family.

In June most knew I was pregnant but it didn't really show yet.

But by the fall you couldn't help but see Abigail was going to be apart of our lives soon.

And then at 41 weeks and one day Abigail was born on December 5th. What a wonderful day that was.

And here we are in March once again. Life has changed so much in the past year but it has been so much fun and quite the journey.

In one year we discovered I was pregnant, saw the baby and myself grow, were amazed at her birth, experienced all the changes that being new parents can bring and have adapted to being a family of 3. So we welcome March 5th and celebrate this past year and all of these wonders.

March 4, 2011

Abigail has been laughing for us for about a week now. My mother can really get her going. A few days with a cold made her much more quiet and fussy but as each day goes by she feels better and better and is once again becoming her talkative and laughing self.

We went on a long walk on the beach today with Abigail sleeping in the Moby. Now back at the beach house she is playing with daddy and I just can't get enough of her laughs. I hope you enjoy them too.